Positively I am

I found this half finished blog on New Year's Eve when I was cleaning up the blog...  I decided it's worth publishing. The thoughts are good ones and fit in with the focus of this year! I am happy I found this now!


Well, I don't know if you figured this out or not, but I write this blog as a reminder for myself of things I've done, dreams I have, hopes, wishes and observations.  I could say I'm writing it for all of mankind, but as most of mankind hasn't found it yet... well, I don't know that all mankind is interested in my chickens, but maybe they are.  Besides, I think it's really and truly okay to do things for yourself.

So today's thought is about internal dialogue.  I'm always on a knowledge quest and my focus, of late, has been on understanding and harnessing the internal dialogue I experience.  I don't know about you, but mine was running away with my mind and I was feeling just a little crazy.

I have two concepts that have helped me tremendously.

First:  The chatter of internal dialogue is a habit.  It's not a requirement.  It's some sort of coping mechanism that we develop to handle complex situations.  Pre-planning conversations, reliving past conversations, replaying unsettling events are all about trying to cope with the stresses of your life.  There are better ways to cope that don't include the myriad of conflicting thoughts doing battle for your attention.

Since coping through internal dialogue is not required, it isn't necessary to pay attention to the stray and random thoughts floating through your mind.  You are allowed to just let those thoughts float on by.  The really amazing thing is once you stop paying attention, the thought just naturally peters out and when you do it enough, the chatter quiets down.

Second:  Begin framing your thoughts about your self in positive I am statements.  For instance, let's say you are not as fit as you would like to be: Replace "I need to exercise more" with "I am enjoying exercising more". OR  You just can't seem to remember things as well as you used to:  Replace "I forget everything" with "I am going to keep trying different methods until I find a way to remember this".  Do you describe yourself as: short, cheap, naive?  Try describing yourself as:  I am petite, smart with your money, and always willing to learn.  By framing the thoughts in the positive, you are giving yourself a chance to be more.  You are believing you can and will succeed.  Using positive I am statements will change how you look at the world.  Really. You will first notice how often you think about yourself negatively and the temptation will be to feel bad about that, but we are framing it in the positive so instead consider "I am going to have a lot of opportunities to practice I am positive statements"  or "I am figuring out how to be my own bff".  I like the "I am figuring out..." as a beginning because it let's me catch up to the desire I have from the place that I'm in.  The second thing you will notice is that you will begin framing all your thoughts in the positive and your friends and family will notice, benefit and appreciate it.  Yes, they will.